he's not particularly interested in avoiding the fiscal cliff and he's not interested at all in cutsing any spending. >> reporter: democrats say with so much at stake from defense jobs to unemployment benefits and higher taxes on all households, republicans are simply stalling what needs to be done. >> it's apparent how this will end. the only question is when will it end? you know, it's how long will speaker boehner make middle class families wait for relief. >> reporter: the one thing not in question is the deadline of january 1st. until then, it's anyone's guess how much the standoff will last until the deadline is blocked down. >> one of the things overshadowed by all of this are the new unemployment numbers. we're starting to get some of those now, positive numbers for- from-the labor department saying today that claims fell $25,000 last week. that is in comparison when the labor department reported 451,000 claims after hurricane sandy, shawn. >> tom fitzgerald, thank you. >>> new jersey governor chris christie met with president obama to talk about the after math from superstorm s